“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6 NIV)

As long as I can remember, I have believed in the existence of God. But I had a lot of confusion early on about Him. As a child, I occasionally attended Sunday school, heard Bible stories, and even listened to religious people who had come to my door. I heard a lot of religious talk, but no one helped me understand how I could know Him. It wasn’t until I had become an adult and read a small booklet explaining how God had sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins, and how to pray and receive Him into my life, that I finally understood how to know Him personally. While driving down a busy road I prayed a simple prayer of faith: “Jesus, I believe in you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me and be my savior.” From that moment on the direction of my life was forever changed. I began my journey to serve and learn all I could about my savior, Jesus Christ. It was like a light had suddenly come on and I wondered how I could have been in the dark for so long. As I studied the Bible, I discovered that God had been telling us about Himself for a long time!

God told us about who Jesus is long before He came

Isaiah 9:6, written 700 years before Jesus was born, between 740-680 B.C., tells us a number of important things about the coming messiah:

• “He is born for us” (Isa. 9:6a NIV)

• “He is a gift for us” (Isa. 9:6b NIV)

• “The government will be on His shoulders.” (Isa. 9:6c NIV)

• “He is called Wonderful Counselor” (Isa. 9:6d NIV)

• “He is called mighty God” (Isa. 9:6e NIV)

• “He is called Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6f NIV)

• “He is called Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6g NIV)

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